Tech notes from around the biz

Cinesite, Bunim/Murray, Avid, Beast

London vfx house Cinesite is accepting applications for its annual internship program, Inspire, now in its third year. Program now includes a new technical effects strand that specifically targets graduates with an interest in computer programming or technical effects. Antony Hunt, managing director, added the track to encourage a new-generation of programmers to consider the vfx industry as a viable option for their skills and to help budding effects artists demonstrate their technical ability. Cinesite internships are six-week paid summertime positions. “I’m always bowled over by the amount of submissions we receive for Inspire, and every year the quality of entries keeps getting better,” said Hunt. Previous Inspire winners have worked on “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” “John Carter” and “World War Z .” Since finishing their placements, all six winners have secured positions at Cinesite.

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Bunim/Murray Productions picked Avid technology for all its editorial work beginning early this year, shifting away from Apple’s Final Cut Pro software. As part of the switch, B/M will deploy Avid Media Composer 6, Avid Symphony and an Avid ISIS 500 shared-storage system. Company is credited with helping to create the reality television genre with its series “The Real World.” Its work includes such shows as “Keeping up with the Kardashians,” “Kourtney & Kim Take New York” and “Project Runway.” “Due to the large volume of media generated by our reality shows, we needed to re-evaluate our editing and storage solutions,” said Mark Raudonis, senior VP of post-production. Working closely with Avid and its reseller Key Code Media, B/M ultimately selected Avid for its ability to integrate Media Composer 6 and Symphony 6 into its existing infrastructure. “We won’t need to change out any of the hardware from our editing stations,” Raudonis added. “It’s just a software install.”

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Editorial house and Deluxe subsidiary Beast has completed directing and editorial work for Western Union, via agency 180 Amsterdam , to promote “World of Betters,” a six-week viral campaign that asks “what would you do with $1,000 to make someone’s day better?” Western Union partnered with such stars as Alicia Keys, John Legend, K’naan, Sunidhi Chauhan and Pitbull to host “live-better events” around the world showcasing how Western Union moves money.